<p>Pure business decision to deal with increased competition from ACT.
The attraction for ACT for traditional SAT test takers is that you could hide poor results.
Now SAT and ACT are on equal footing in that regard.</p>
<p>I might as well post my FAQ about repeated testing right away, since that is the implicit subject of this thread. I'll have to update the FAQ soon to include the link that northeastmom just kindly shared by opening this thread: </p>
<p>ONE-TIME TEST-TAKING </p>
<p>Colleges have given up trying to distinguish one-time test-takers from two-time or three-time or even four-time test-takers, because that wasn't useful information to the colleges. There are a number of reasons for that. </p>
<p>1) The colleges have utterly no way of knowing who spends all his free time practicing taking standardized tests and who takes them "cold." </p>
<p>2) The colleges are well aware that students who have actually taken the tests sometimes cancel scores, so they have little incentive to give students bonus consideration if the students submit only one test score. </p>
<p>3) The colleges are aware that students who take the admission tests at middle-school age, who are numerous, do not have their earlier test scores submitted by default. </p>
<p>SAT</a> Younger than 13 </p>
<p>Hoagies</a>' Gifted: Talent Search Programs </p>
<p>Duke</a> TIP - Interpreting SAT and ACT Scores for 7th Grade Students </p>
<p>4) Colleges are aware that the majority of students who take the SAT at all take it more than once. </p>
<p>5) Colleges are in the business of helping students learn, and they don't mind students taking efforts to improve their scores. They know that students prepare for tests. </p>
<p>From the New York Times: "Although coaching would no doubt continue if subject tests replaced the SAT, at least students would be focused on content as much as test-taking strategies, Mr. Murray said. There would also be pressure to improve local high school curriculums so that students were prepared, he wrote.</p>
<p>"These arguments make sense to Mr. Fitzsimmons [dean of admission at Harvard], who said, 'People are going to prepare anyway, so they might as well study chemistry or biology.' He added that 'the idea of putting more emphasis on the subject tests is of great interest' to his group." </p>
<p>6) And now the College Board is back in the business of letting students choose which test scores to send into colleges, </p>
<p>Score</a> Choice - New SAT Score-Reporting Policy </p>
<p>so now there is less reason than ever to suppose that colleges care how many times you take the test, because the colleges have no way to know how many times you took the test officially. </p>
<p>Colleges treat applicants uniformly now by considering their highest scores, period. </p>
<p>From the Harvard admission office: "If you submit more than one set of scores for any of the required tests, the Admissions Committee considers only your best scores—even if your strongest SAT Subject Tests or portions of the SAT Reasoning Test were taken on different dates." </p>
<p>See also a Newsweek article about the renewed score choice policy adopted by College Board. </p>
<p>Reactions</a> to College Board's SAT Score Choice | Newsweek Education | Newsweek.com </p>
<p>Some colleges want to see all scores a student has ever obtained, period, but as one admission officer asks, if "a student submits a single best sitting of 2320," does anyone really care "how low were her other score sets?" </p>
<p>P.S. Since last updating my FAQ, I've written by email to some college admission offices to confirm their practices. Yes, colleges generally give students the benefit of their highest scores and don't care particularly how many times the students have taken the college entrance tests.</p>
<p>
[quote]
SAT Changes Policy, Opening Rift With Colleges
By SARA RIMER
Published: December 30, 2008
This March, high school juniors taking the SAT will have the option of choosing which scores to send to colleges while hiding those they do not want admissions officials to see.
Susan Stava
Students in White Plains take an SAT prep course. A new policy will let students choose which scores to release to colleges.
The new policy is called Score Choice, and the College Board hopes it will reduce student stress around the SAT and college admissions.</p>
<p>But when it comes to college admissions, few things are ever simple. Some highly selective colleges have already said that they will not go along with Score Choice, and the policy is stirring heated debate among high school counselors and college admissions officials.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Read more at [url=<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/education/31sat.html?partner=rss&emc=rss%5DNYT%5B/url">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/education/31sat.html?partner=rss&emc=rss]NYT[/url</a>].</p>
<p>"Hoity Toity"? Which ones? It seems to me that the guy from Harvard supports it and the guy from USC opposes it. This article reveals no correlation between degree of school prestige and degree of opposition to score choice.</p>
<p>Last paragraph of the NY Times article says it all:</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <blockquote> <p>Mr. Poch of Pomona said: “My own view is that tests are a transcript. I don’t get to choose which grades appear on a transcript any more than I get to suppress a driving record from an insurance company.”>>></p> </blockquote> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Yeah, and we all know how insurance companies look at our driving records- they are looking to see who they should deny coverage to.</p>
<p>We also know how colleges look at grades on a transcript. Getting an A in spring semester doesn't make up for that C you got in fall.</p>
<p>I have no problem with a college taking that position. I just want colleges to do what they say they do. If they say they will look only at your highest scores, then they should have no problem letting you send only your highest scores.</p>
<p>^^ vicariousparent, I agree with you. What I have a problem with is telling kids that they have score choice, when it really is not quite the case. I can tell you that my son took his first ACT with a bad cold. He was sick enough that without score choice I would have advised him not to take it. Thinking that he did have score choice, I told him to take it anyway. I think a test taker should know the implications of taking a high stakes test like that in advance.</p>
<p>Personally I'm glad that USC is opting out - if I get a decent score in one or two shots, I don't want to be on the same playing field as somebody who spent thousands on prep classes, took it fifteen times, and eventually got the same score.</p>
<p>The stress argument is certainly valid as well, but I wouldn't call schools not in favor of the plan "hoity toity". It's just a different point of view.</p>
<p>Fair enough. But most schools super score anyway, with the exception of the Ivy League and some super elite LAC's.</p>
<p>I agree with vicarious and northeastmom. There is still a question which I haven't seen answered- How do colleges know if a student sends them all the scores? They can "require" it all they want, but it seems that they have no way of knowing. It would seem that college board and ACT can't release scores or even info about how many times a student has taken a test without the student's permission. So, the president of Pomona can say that standardized tests should be like a transcript, but it doesn't seem like that is true. Again, if schools only care about your highest score, why do they want to see all of your scores? If a school superscores and a student took the SAT and got scores of 680, 700, 710 the first time and 720, 740, 750 the second time, there is really no superscore for this student. What benefit to the school or to the student is there by sending both scores?</p>
<p>True. ^^ I've heard it "looks bad" if they see you've taken the SAT too many times, though.</p>
<p>I still am curious, how they will enforce wanting to see all the scores including the ACT.</p>
<p>This is just one more case where the Pomona admission dean is somewhat out of touch with reality. </p>
<p>If there really is a college in the land that dings students who have taken the SAT more than a few times with high scores once or twice, that most likely is a college that isn't honest about how much it cares about yield protection. I don't worry about this issue, because I don't expect my children to apply to such colleges.</p>
<p>I'm curious, can anyone mention the TOP schools that they know superscore?</p>
<p>"the hoity toity schools "
Friedokra, your bitterness is legendary!</p>
<p>I think they should take the lowest scores; that way, if folks decide to pay for coaching, etc., they only get one bite at the apple.</p>
<p>mini, LOL, that would effect rankings. </p>
<p>Schools are not happy bc the ones that insist on seeing all scores will benefit in the rankings through superscoring. The schools that choose to comply with score choice will not have a level playing field with schools who want all scores and will superscore using 5 ACT seatings and 3 SAT seatings from some applicants.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether or not the schools opting out of score choice are "hoity toity," they are doing so to prevent the unfair advantages that money can give people who choose to use score choice.</p>
<p>With the new score choice system, anyone who can afford to take the test every time it is offered (and maybe prepping after every test), but only sends one of his/her scores, benefits OBSCENELY over kids who aren't as well-informed/wealthy, while the Collegeboard makes a lot of money. Score choice dramatically enlarges the perceived unfair advantage that wealthy kids get in the college admissions process, and schools opting out of it are trying to fight that.</p>
<p>I think schools should simply say - "You get to take it once. If you take it more than once, it indicates to us that you can't figure out more worthy uses for your time and energy. Please sign this statement to indicate that at no time did you, your parents, your guardians, or your school pay for coaching, mentoring, classes, or any other assistance intended to increase your SAT/ACT score. Thank you."</p>
<p>See the</a> FAQ and don't worry about it.</p>